


Somewhere Out There

by GabyElle



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Comfort, Fix-It, M/M, Post Season 7, Post Season 8, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 15:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16200770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GabyElle/pseuds/GabyElle
Summary: Lance was still asleep, but something else caught Keith’s attention. Tears. There are tears running down Lance’s cheeks.A dreaded panic sets Keith and shook Lance with a little more force, lightly patting the side of his face to wake him up, “Lance, Lance, wake up.”He woke up, thank goodness. Dazed and disoriented, Lance locked gaze with Keith, “What’s going on?” he questioned.Relief escaped Keith, “You gave me a scare there. You’re crying in your sleep.”“I was?” Lance’s fingers reached for his face touching his damp skin. He doesn’t have a clue.“What were you dreaming about?”Lance’s brows furrowed, concentrating to recall any lingering memories from his dream, “I... can’t remember.”





	Somewhere Out There

**Author's Note:**

> I started this fic right I watched Season 7, it's very late and this what I came up with. It's just basically me coming terms with the possibility that my ship might not happen. I guess, this is my closure.
> 
> EDIT : In light of the events after Season 8, I'm adding this to Post Season 8 & Fix It tags. It's at least something I could offer to the fandom, stay strong Paladins.

Warmth in the comfort of their own bed. Keith was still half-asleep while his hand blindly searching the space next to him. Upon feeling the soft and warm body, Keith didn’t need to open his eyes but pulled the body towards him, wrapping his arms around, almost protectively.

The softest moan escaped from the person beside him while Keith simply groaned, his body relaxed by just holding that person in his arms.

Still, Keith manages to spoke in his hoarse sleep voice, “Good morning, Lance.”

No reply. Lance must be still asleep. Keith lifted his head to get a glimpse of Lance, “Lance, wake up.” he shook him, leaning forward to get a look.

Lance was still asleep, but something else caught Keith’s attention. Tears. There are tears running down Lance’s cheeks.

A dreaded panic sets Keith and shook Lance with a little more force, lightly patting the side of his face to wake him up, “Lance, Lance, wake up.”

He woke up, thank goodness. Dazed and disoriented, Lance locked gaze with Keith, “What’s going on?” he questioned.

Relief escaped Keith, “You gave me a scare there. You’re crying in your sleep.”

“I was?” Lance’s fingers reached for his face touching his damp skin. He doesn’t have a clue.

“What were you dreaming about?”

Lance’s brows furrowed, concentrating to recall any lingering memories from his dream, “I... can’t remember.”

* * *

It’s been six months since the battle with the Galra ended, the fight they took was risking life and death. And for once after a long war, everyone could breathe easily, the atmosphere shifted so much. It goes to show that change is here.

Rebuilding and starting over. A new chance in life.

Will this be the time that the Paladin of Voltron be able to move on from being the Defenders of the Universe?

Lance yawned, dragging his feet along the hallway of the Garrison. He hasn’t had breakfast yet and could use a cup of coffee to keep him awake for the long day ahead.

A surprise greeted him when he saw a familiar silver-haired woman in the pantry room.

“Allura!” Lance called in surprise.

“Lance!,” Allura greeted back with a smile on her face. “Good morning.”

He smiled. “Good morning. I didn’t expect you to be here.” Which is true, Allura usually would show up at the base facilities to lend a hand in working together with humans combining Altean technology with their own. It’s one of the reasons they’re able to win this war in the first place.

“I’m feeling hungry, so I decided to help myself with a beverage you called “coffee”?”

Lance approached Allura and right away noticed her standing in front of the coffee machine.

“Let me help you.” he offered. And instantly, her expression turned relief.

“Thank you, Lance.”

He’s glad to help, as he expertly worked on the machine, filling it with the fresh coffee beans, flipping the switch and let it do all the work of making the hot, fresh, brew of coffee.

Allura was impressed. There’s still a lot of things for the Altean Princess to learn, despite it’s already been six months on.

It didn’t take long for the coffee aroma filled the air and the hot liquid poured into the mug.

She had her eyes closed, taking in the scent, “It’s nothing I’ve ever smelled before. It’s exquisite.”

“Wait till you get a taste of it.” he mentioned. “But I have to warn you it’s going to taste bitter.”

Allura is the one person that never backs down on anything. She took a gentle sip of the hot coffee and her face turned grimace. “Ugh, that is bitter. How do you drink this?”

“It’ll help if you add in a little sugar and cream.” Lance pointed out.

She was curious and picked up the cream, pouring the smooth liquid into the coffee and watched the deep brown faded into a lighter brown with a little sprinkle of sugar, she brought the cup to her lips sipping it again. This time, her face was content.

“Mmm…, this is something out of this world.” Allura was enthralled. “I could still taste the bitterness, just barely. But the taste was amazing.”

“Congratulations! You just discovered coffee.” Lance presented.

Setting her mug down, “Is Keith doing okay?”

Now, Allura would be the last person Lance would expect to be talking to her about Keith. After all, it was at one point he fell completely head over heels with Allura, that’s no longer the case anymore, it’s all history now.

“You know Keith. He’s probably gone off to see Shiro somewhere around.” He waved his hand.

Allura chuckled, “But you’re both happy, aren’t you?”

His finger traced the rim of the mug in circles, “Yeah, I guess, you could say that.”

***

_Euphoria was sending through Lance’s body in waves until it ripped out of him. It’s the same happiness when he met his family after three long years, holding them tight, just missing their warm hugs and that long-lost love that he missed while in space._

_Now that the Galran Empire had toppled for good. After 10,000 years, Voltron officially won this war._

_Earth was celebrating. Cheers, hollering and laughter came everywhere around him._

_Lance blanked out, after that euphoric adrenaline, his legs gave up on him and ultimately fell onto his knees._

_Tears came flowing down his cheeks. Happy, relief tears._

_His body shook as he continued to sob uncontrollably._

_He wasn’t even aware that someone was kneeling next to him, hand against his shoulder._

_It was Keith. With a soft reassuring smile on his face, that felt almost too familiar, like a dejavu._

_The time when the Castle of Lions was being ambushed and their supposed “bonding moment”._

_“You alright there, buddy?” He asked._

_Lance was a complete mess that he can’t get the words out right. And that made Keith laughed._

_Such a lovely laugh, he wondered to himself._

_Keith helped Lance get back on his feet._

_“We finally won.” Lance spoke finally._

_“Yeah, we did. It’s a long time coming.” Keith continued. “And you’re right. We made a great team.” he quoted._

_Lance blinked tears away from his eyes, that line was almost too familiar. “Y-Yeah, you’re a great leader yourself.”_

_“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Keith hooked his hand around Lance’s, surprising him. That line would have a double meaning to it, and Lance couldn’t decipher which was it._

_“You’re more than just a good partner, Lance.” Keith continued almost too casually._

***

“Lance? Lance, are you there?” Allura’s voice called.

“Sorry! You said something?” Lance snapped out of his daze, recomposed himself by taking another sip of his coffee.

It seemed that Allura had caught on, but he can’t be certain with that usual gentle smile on her face.

“Nothing. This coffee you mentioned earlier, it’s really good. Thank you for introducing it to me.”

* * *

There’s no better feeling than to return back to his room, after a long day of just making a show of appearance to the Garrison members. By now, everyone recognized the Paladins of Voltron as heroes.

At first, Lance enjoyed the attention, the newfound fame on him. But after time had passed, that bliss just faded and it had started to get a little too much invasion of privacy not to mention the annoyance that came with it.

He unlocked the door to the room with he shared with Keith, hoping that he would be inside waiting for him, that brought Lance little sense of joy.

“Keith?” Lance called softly.

It was silent, Lance walked in slow steps towards the bedroom. What he witnessed made his heart melt.

Kosmo, the teleporting cosmic wolf got comfortable, took most of the space of the bed. Not that Lance mind at all, as long the animal was clean.

His ears perked then raised his head upon hearing Lance approached, looked at him curiously and relaxed back to the bed, his chin on top of his forelegs.

And there he was, with his arms folded across his chest. Keith sleeping soundly against Kosmo seemingly unaware of Lance’s presence.

He’s so cute. Lance thought to himself and joined Keith in bed, helping himself by laying his head against Kosmo’s thick fur. He was instantly greeted with warmth from the wolf’s body heat and Keith’s by wrapping his arms around his waist, his back against his front.

Lance breathed deeply, taking Keith’s scent that brought more comfort.

Home. This is also his home, with Keith.

He felt Keith stirred under him.

Lance hummed, “Are you awake?” he whispered.

Keith turned to face Lance and exhaled through his nose, “Yeap.” he answered with his eyes closed.

He brushed away the long strands from Keith’s face, brought himself forward to kiss his forehead. “Wake up, sleepy head.”

A tiny smirk cast over Keith’s features, “No.”

Typical Keith. You can’t reason with him unless giving him something in return.

“Don’t do this to me, Keith.”

“There’s something you could do. You can kiss me first.”

Lance liked the idea of that, “Like a princess?”

His brows turned into a frown, not liking the idea of being called a princess. “A prince.”

Rolling his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, Prince Grumpy.”

“I’m waiting.”

So eager as usual, Lance brought his face closer to Keith’s and as gentle as he could, pressed his lips against Keith. And instantly, he felt whole.

He felt Keith’s smile widen a little more, relaxed in Lance’s arms.

They laid there exchanging light, comforting pecks. Kosmo decided to have his fun messing with them by teleporting randomly below them. It took both of them off guard and they fell back against the bed.

“KOSMO!” Lance yelled out loud. “You really need to train your wolf.”

“He’s fine. He knows when to teleport if he feels like it.” Keith brushed off.

“Anyways, how’s your day? Is Shiro doing alright?”

“Being the captain of Atlas has his responsibility. It's Shiro, he knows what to do. He always does.”

“Life goes on, huh?” Lance wondered aloud, propping himself with his arms under his head.

“It’s a good thing, we don’t have to fight anymore. You get to be with your family again.”

Lance peered up at Keith, “And I have you too.”

“We have each other.”

***

Everything seemed to go on smoothly, almost. Lance woke up startled from his sleep again. He shot up from his bed, trying to catch his breath like he ran a marathon. Again, it wasn’t a nightmare that was haunting him.

His hand swiped over his face that Lance realizes that he’s been crying in his sleep again.

Lance glanced at his side, watching in silence Keith sleeping soundly who looked completely at peace.

He pulled the covers away and headed out to the balcony to get some fresh air and clear his thoughts.

It’s all too strange for Lance. Even he couldn’t explain it, the embarrassment he felt when Keith caught him crying in his sleep. Keith must surely be worried about him and he doesn’t want him to be worried.

Never he had cried in his sleep before. Lance thought long and hard trying to recall the dream that caused him to shed tears, but nothing. Most likely it was completely wiped out from his memory the moment he woke up.

Lance was in deep thought that he wasn’t aware of Keith coming up behind him, arms around his waist.

“Good morning.” he mumbled, his chin leaned against Lance’s shoulder.

Lance frantically wiped any remaining tears on his cheeks without getting caught by Keith and put on the brightest, convincing smile for him.

However, Keith caught on quick. All it took was one look on Lance, and his expression turned into worry, “What’s wrong?” his voice was low, concern.

“Nothing. Everything’s fine.” Lance brushed it off.

“No, talk to me. Lance, don’t hide it from me.” Keith attempted to convince him to let out what’s bothering him. “Is it your dreams?”

The walls that Lance put up began to crumble, he let out a tired sigh, “I don’t even know if they’re dreams to begin with. It’s all the same, Keith. I can’t remember the dreams at all, they’re not nightmares either. I just woke up crying for no reason.” he told exasperatedly. He met Keith’s eyes, “I didn’t want to make you worry. My problems aren’t yours to bear.”

“What are you talking about? Lance, of course I should be worried about you. I care about you. What kind of person am I if I wasn’t? We have each other, remember?” Keith urged softly, reminding Lance the conversation they had last night.

He didn’t deserve Keith. A sudden rush of mix emotions flooded through him, breaking the walls that almost brought him to tears again.

“I don’t want to see you upset. We’ll figure it out together, I promise.” Keith reassured, pulling Lance close to him as if he’s protecting Lance from any sort of harm.

He relaxed against Keith just stayed there staring at the morning sun rising from the horizon. Lance quietly listened to Keith’s steady breathing and if he paid attention enough, he could also hear his beating heart as well, such a soothing sound.

“Hey.” Keith whispered softly against his ear. “Let’s do something tonight, just us.”

Lance liked the idea of that, “What are you suggesting?” he asked, curiously.

“Stargazing out here, tonight. It’ll be quiet and it would help take things off your mind, what do you say?”

Lance never thought that Keith would come out with ideas for date night, it’s a first. But somehow rather, he liked that suggestion.

“Yeah, I like that.”

* * *

The mention about the date really made Lance excited, excited like a young pup wanted to play fetch. Also adding to the fact that it pushed his sleeping troubles at the back of his mind.

He had to, unfortunately, turn down Hunk’s offer for movie night making a mental note for a rain check. For now, Lance just wants to get back to Keith’s warm embrace.

Lance was quick on his feet, sprinting pass people around him so he could get to Keith as fast as he could. Not once he stopped until dashed right through the door.

“Hey, you’re back.” Keith spoke casually.

“Hey.” Lance was breathless. “Am I late?”

“No, just in time. The sun hasn’t set yet.”

Sunset and stargazing, there’s no perfect moment than this.

***

It was beautiful. The sky was in many shades of warm colours. The colours he remembered as a young kid painting in his art class. Oh, he enjoyed that messy class, it was that one time he got to express his creativity.

He leaned back against Keith’s chest, his arms wrapped around Lance’s body just how he wanted it.

“This is nice. We should do this more often.” Lance mused.

“How about every day?”Keith suggested.

Everyday. Lance couldn’t help but smile.

While waiting for the night to engulf fully with the darkness and it didn’t take long for the stars to lit up the night sky.

It wasn’t any different than the stars at outer space. While space had the stars around them, it was quiet. But the earth was nothing like that.

“Doesn’t it still feel the same to you? It's just like we’re up there again.” Lance mentioned.

“What do you expect? We’re in the same galaxy.” Keith replied.

“I know but…, it’s going to sound really weird. It still felt like we’re in space.”

Lance felt Keith nuzzled against his hair, “We don’t have to anymore.”

After some while, just sitting and observe the night. Something came across Lance’s mind, shooting stars.

“We didn’t see any shooting stars.” he mumbled with realization.

“What was that?” Keith asked.

“Back at space, we didn’t see any shooting stars. Did we?” Lance repeated.

Keith glanced up, putting his thoughts together. “I don’t think so. Guess we're was too focused on other things that we didn't realize it at all.”

“Such a shame. I was hoping that being in space would give a better, up-close view of opportunity to see it.” Lance shrugged.

Keith’s arms tighten slightly around Lance. “It’s not all over. We can still see it, just look up.”

***

_The war is over. The universe has no need to fear the Galra Empire anymore. It’s all over._

_Lance was searching amongst the crowd, searching for the one person on his mind, always._

_Amongst the crowd, Lance searched around hoping that the person he’s looking for was around._

_Then, in a quick glimpse from his peripheral vision, Lance found the person he’s looking for._

_“Allura!” he called out._

_The Altean princess turned her direction towards the call of her name, and that’s when his feet picked up under him and began running. Running towards her._

_His speed grew fast trying to reach to her eagerly. Something just overcome him that once their distance between them nearer, Lance immediately swooped Allura behind her knees, up in the air. Happiness makes him do things that he would normally wouldn’t do. He’s filled with so much joy that he wants to say it. A declaration to Allura._

_Wearing a proud, confident smile that was pure and genuine. “Allura, I…” he began. His heart was soaring. “I love you.”_

_He waited for a reply. Any sort of reply. It didn’t take long for the corner of her lips turned into a smile, and then she laughed. Lance laughed along with her._

_Lance’s gaze shifted from Allura and landed on Keith, distance away from him. Usually by himself, unless with the presence of Shiro stood beside him. And that's exactly what's happening right now._

_They were speaking to each other, Lance wasn’t an expert lip reader to know what the conversation was about._

_With a deep observation, Keith looked content and happy. It doesn’t take a rocket science to know that. They exchanged tender looks at each other before their hands clasped together._

_***_

Lance woke up startled. For a moment, he doesn’t know where he was. A wave of sudden panic hit him out of nowhere. At some point, he had fallen asleep against Keith. It took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down.

Not a nightmare again. But there’s an odd feeling to it, that felt very real to him. And yet again, tears ran down his cheeks again.

He wasn't aware that Keith stirred awake.

“Lance? What’s wrong?” he asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

This time, he couldn't hide it anymore, “I dreamt again.” His voice croaked. “This time I remembered what it was about.”

It was an immediate reaction and Keith jumped into action to console Lance, arms around him again.

“Talk to me, Lance.” he whispered.

“It felt so real. We won the war but… we’re not together.” Lance recounted his dream. “You’re probably thinking it’s just some silly dream. But it felt like I was there.” He closed his eyes and the lingering remnants of his dream still fresh in his mind.

“And you know what’s the worse part?” Lance continued. “We’re happy being with someone else.”

“Lance, listen to me.” Keith called softly. “Lance.”

He turned to Keith with sadness in his eyes. “It’s just a dream. Right now, this is our reality.”

There’s a look of uncertainty. “What if we don’t get to make this work?”

“It will work. Haven’t you forgotten that we’re rivals? Neck and neck?” Keith joked.

He’s trying his best and Lance was grateful for that. “I guess. You’re right.”

Keith leaned over to kiss Lance’s cheek. “Now, I would very much like to see a smile on your face.”

His little persuasion worked and there’s the familiar Lance smile, turning his face to plant a soft kiss against Keith and snuggled against him.

It’s the reassurance he needed. Whatever happens on the other side of the universe. They’re together now and there’s their reality.


End file.
